MULTAN: Some officials of the Multan District Health Authority in connivance with staffers of the district accounts office allegedly caused a loss of Rs47.603 million to the exchequer in terms of arrears of pay and allowances given to the employees after allowing them illegal and irregular upgrade and promotions, Dawn has learnt.

According to official documents available with Dawn, the provincial health department through a notification on Dec 29, 2012, issued composition of the Provincial Implementation Committee for enforcing four-tier upgrade of service structure.

According to it, health services director (development) will be the convener of the committee, while additional director (administration) of directorate general health services and section officer of health department will be the members of the committee.

The notification states that the committee will monitor the implementation process of upgrade and adjustment of all categories of the allied health professionals to the next higher scales as per the four-tier formula and the working paper for upgrade will be submitted to the respective departmental promotion committees (DPCs) for implementation.

It further states that according to a letter issued by directorate general health services on April 19, 2018, all the promotions of allied health professionals beyond one-time dispensation shall be placed before the concerned DPCs for regularisation and ex-post facto endorsement and all the work shall be expedited through the concerned DPCs, while as per another government notification, the health director general is the competent authority for promotion of BS-16 officers.

It states that the then health CEO upgraded/promoted all allied health professionals without placing their cases before the DPC in accordance with the Punjab Health Department Allied Health Professional (Service) Rules 2012 without following the seniority lists of each cadre.

The scrutiny of record and seniority lists revealed that the promotions were given ignoring all rules just to give undue benefit to the employees, as the CEO upgraded the excess posts by ignoring the formula and the health department instructions.

It states there were only 12 posts of senior technician for the upgrade, but the CEO upgraded 24 employees irregularly, while according to a government letter issued on September 26, 2014, the health DG was the competent authority to award BS-16 and above. But the health CEO awarded BS-16 to the employees in the violation of the rules, it adds.

It further states that the CEO, through a letter on April 21, 2018, withdrew all the 15 previously issued office orders regarding upgrade/redesignation of all allied health professionals as the orders were issued without redressing the grievances and without preparation of seniority lists. Some of the affected employees moved the court which on May 22, 2018, issued notices to all parties with the direction that the operation of orders would remain suspended till the next date of hearing.

The CEO; however, on June 28, 2018, cancelled his order of April 21, while restoring the previous positions of all the employees despite the fact that no direction to cancel his order was issued by the court. The court on Jan 24, 2019, dismissed the petition for having not been pressed due to redressal of the grievances of the petitioners.

It states the CEO made the payment of total arrears amounting to Rs47.603 million, while the accounts office fixed pay and allowances without checking the admissibility of the grades awarded to the employees and genuineness of the orders and passed the arrears of more than six years without the approval of finance department and demanding any additional budget.

Former health CEO Dr Munawwar Abbas and district accounts officer Riaz Harraj were not available for their stance.

The incumbent CEO Dr Arshad Malik said that not only a departmental inquiry was initiated against the former CEO but he has also been suspended from service over a number corruption allegations leveled against him.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2020

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